Egnatia Rrogozhinë 1–1 FC Midtjylland on their league phase debut in the Conference League
Egnatia Rrogozhinë drew 1–1 with FC Midtjylland in matchday 1 of the Europa Conference League and extended their unbeaten run. The hosts took the lead in the 26th minute through an Ildi Gruda goal, and in the 33rd minute Gue-sung Cho equalised.
Automatically translated from Polish · AI-generated from GolVolt data and the sources listed below the article
Gruda opens the scoring, Cho responds
Egnatia took the lead in the 26th minute. Ildi Gruda headed in from an Altin Kryeziu cross to make it 1–0. The visitors needed seven minutes to respond. In the 33rd minute Gue-sung Cho also headed in to level at 1–1, from a Rasmus Nissen Kristensen cross. Both goals came from headers after crosses. After the equaliser the visitors put the ball in the net several times, but each time the referee whistled for offside or a free kick and the goals were disallowed. The 1–1 scoreline stood until the end.
An even game, more corners for the visitors
The statistics show a very even match. Egnatia had 52% possession, Midtjylland 48%. The hosts took 12 shots, the visitors 13, and both had 5 on target. The clearer difference was in corners: the visitors took 6, the hosts 2. Both teams went into the game with changes to their line-ups. Egnatia made three changes to the starting eleven from their previous match, Midtjylland as many as five.
Cho with his third league goal
Gue-sung Cho was the visitors' hero and now has 3 league goals this season. The team's top league scorer remains Franculino, though, with 2 goals and 2 assists in 4 matches. Headed goals are nothing new for Midtjylland: 3 of their 8 goals this season, with a known method of scoring, came from headers. On Egnatia's side Gruda stood out, and Kryeziu assisted his goal.
The Danish side's squad and pre-match words
Midtjylland arrived weakened. Before the match Elias Olafsson, Martin Erlic, Mikel Gogorza, Victor Bak and Magnus Jensen were missing from the squad, and Andreas Maxsø could not play in European competitions. Coach Mike Tullberg stressed before the game that his team was focusing more on itself than on its opponent, although he respects Egnatia as Albanian champions. A Tipsbladet journalist judged after the match that Midtjylland were clearly the better side on the pitch but did not turn that into many chances.
The visitors' run goes on, Egnatia make history
The draw extended both teams' runs. Midtjylland have now gone 11 matches unbeaten and scored in the 11th match in a row. Egnatia have 4 matches in a row without defeat. It was the first meeting between these clubs, and Egnatia made their debut in the league phase of European competition. The Albanian club is the second to reach the group stage of the main European competitions, after Skënderbeu in the 2015-16 and 2017-18 seasons.
